Sewing machine



Oct. 30, 1928. 1,689,846

R. B. WOODCOCK SEWING MACHINE Filed May 1'7 1921 I nn/entar Patented Oct. 30, 1928;

' UNITED STATES 1,689,846 PATENT OFFICE- REGINALD BOYI) WOODCOCK, OF LEICESTER, ENGLAND, ASSIGNOR TO UNITED SHOE MACHINERY CORPORATION, OF PATERSON, NEW JERSEY, ACORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

SEWING MACH NE.

Application filed May 17,1921, Serial No. 470.836, and in Great Britain May 31, 1920.

The present invention relates to machines for securing the unlasted upper tothe sole or insole of a boot or shoe by means of a sewn seam.

Machines for sewing an unlasted upper to the sole of a shoe comprise a sole support arranged to extend within the shoe and support the sole and upper in position to receive the stitches of the seam. In machines of this character the needle is arranged to pierce the upper and the sole in a plane parallel to the surface of the sole whichis supported by the sole support.

provide a. machine of the character above referred to by which work. presenting abrupt variations in thickness may be readily sewed. without appreciable inconvenience to or care on the part of the operator. More specifically, the primary object of the invention is to providev an improved machine of the character shown in the patent to Richards No 1,163,- 558,dated December 7,1915, by which the upper of a. turned shoe and the sole thereof to which a low fiat heel has already been secured maybe readily sewed together.

With the aboveobjects inview the present invention contemplates the provision in a machine for, sewing an unlasted upper to the sole of a shoe of a sole support for positioning the sole and upper in position to receive the seam together with means by which the operator during the sewing operation can.

move the sole support quickly so as to compensate for any abrupt variations in the thick: ness of the work. Preferably, means for limiting the extent of the movement of the sole support are provided which limiting means may be adjustable, so that during'the sewing operation no care or attention on the part of the operator is required-to produce the exact movements of the sole support to secure the. desired. results. Also preferably themeans for moving the work sup-port dur ing the sewing operation are soarranged that the movement of the sole support away from the stitch forming devicesis produced by the operator and the return movement is pro-- duced by a spring. so that in passing from a thick portion of the work to a thinner portion no act of the operator is required to cause the desired movement of the work support.

In the specific embodiment of the invention hereinafter described, the sole support is in It is an object of the present invention'to' the form of a horn such as is illustrated in the patentv to Richards above referred to. This sole support or horn is yieldingly and adj ustably mounted upon a carrier and the carrier 1s yieldingly mounted upon a movable support. To enable the horn to be moved away from the stitch forming'devices to facilitate the insertion and removal of work, mechanism similar to the mechanism illustrated in-the Rlchards patent is provided for moving the carrier support. To enable the hornto be moved towards and from the stitch forming devices during the sewing operation to compensate for abrupt changes in the thickness of the work, means under the control of the operator are provided for moving the horn carrier with relation to its support.

In addition to the features abovereferred to the present invention also consists in certain constructions, combinations and arrange ments' of parts hereinafter described and claimed, the advantages of which will be obviousfrom the following description.

The several features of the present invention will be clearly understood from an inspection of the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 isa side elevation, partly in section, of a hornmechanism andwork engaging parts of a sewing machine embodyingthe features of the present invention in their preferred form; Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the lower part of the horn mechanism;

and Fig. ,3 is a perspective view of the heel the lower end of the horn 2 a sleeve 8 extends vertically downward which is rotatably and slidably mounted in a bore in a second sleeve 10. The horn with its sleeve 8 is supported upon a carrier; hereinafter described which is movably mounted inthe sleeve 10 which constitutes the carrier support hereinbefore referred to in the general descriptionof the machine. The sleeve 10 is arranged to slide vertically in a bearing 12 in the machine frame has depending from it toward the end of a treadle 23. Also connected tothe. treadle near its forward end is a rod 25 which extends upwardly to the driving clutch of. the machine.

rear of the machine lugs 14 between which is pivotedone end of a toggle link l6, the other end of which is pivoted toone end of a second link 18 fulcrumed on the machine frame. The second toggle link has an arm 26 to whi'ch is connected a needle rod 22, the lower end of which is prvoted at the rear A downward actuation of the forward end of thetreadle pi oduces an upward movement of the 1'od-22 a nd an actum tion of the toggle links to raise the horn and thereby clamp the work at the beginning of sewing. A lost motion; connection consisting of pin and slot connection '27 and 29 be- .tween the rod and thetreadle permits this upward movement of the horn before the: driving clutch is thrown into operation. A

spring connection indicated at 31 between the I rod 22 and the arm 20 of the toggle link 18 permits a'continued movement of the tneaclle to render the, driving clutch active-after the toggr-le links 1:6 and 18 have been straight- 'encd.

Extending vertically through the sleeve 8 upon the horn 2 is a rod 24 threaded at its lower end into a member 26 arranged to be adjusted vertically in the'bore in the second sleeve 10, by means: to be hereinafter described. The rod24 just above the threaded portion hason ita shoulder 28 supporting aball race 30against the upper face; of which bearsone end of a1 spring32 enci-rcl-ingjthe rod 24' The upper end of the springengages a' shoulder34inthe bore in the horn sleeve 8, the horn being thereby yieldingly supported, The rod isprovided at its upperend with a hand nut 36 by which it may be rotated to adjust the height of the horn.

The member 26. constitutes the horn carrier 8' abovereferred to and has formed on it rack teeth 38 meshing with a pinion 40 formed on a horizontal shaft-Q42 rotatablymounted in bearings formed in the lower end of the sleeve -1OQ/Fastened to the left hand end of thepinion shaft 42, as viewing. the machine from the front, is anarm 44 by'which the horn may be raised or lowered. The arm is forked. at' its outer end to receive the upper end of a tneadle or knee-lever rod 46 which.

is slotted at 48 to receive the pin 50 in the arm Depressionof the treadle rotates the shaft 42 'tolower the horn. The treadle is returnedby' a suitable springand the shaft by a spring 52 fastened at one end to a'lug 54 on the arm 44 and at the other end to a projection 56 depending from the lower end offthe sleeve 10. The slot48 in therod 46 allows the horn to be lowered or raised by the, toggle 16,18 without affecting thetreadle rod 46 or the shaft 42. The'arm 44 has two faces 5.8, 60 formed upon it which engage one or other oftwo pins setin any chosen two of a series of holes 62 formed in an extension 64 of the seconds'sl'eeve 10. These faces and pins form steps which determine v the positions of the horn heightwise under the influence of the spring 52Ol-W-l1I1--al justedliythe treadle and by placing the pins in suitable holes in the series these .pi sitions are varied.

In sewing together an unlasted boot or shoe upper A and a sol-e'Bwhich husrw heel C previously attached to it as by a sewn seam D, which sole may consist ofa treadilayen of leatherwith whacking of felt and similarly formed heel or may consist sh oygvn of a single layer of leather suitably channelled and a heel consisting of-al'single layer of leather, the operator will for instance begin sewing at E at the: waist just forward 0f the heel and the horn at this time will be in) raised position. The sewing continues-"round the forepart until the heel isreache'do-n'the' op tor, by means of'the treadle above described qulckly lowers the horn a predetermined amoui'it to allow so nearly forthe'cxtrathick- 'posite side of the shoe at F when the operanessxat the heel that no (or no appreciable) adverse influence, such asnir evident change of work clamping pressure, Nest-1'stained attention is required on thepart'of the operator who merely has-to keep the tread'le depressed until, after sewing round the heel, the" horn is 'againTrai-sed by the spring 52 when the treadle'is released as thef-SeWin g passes oif the heel-portion.

The nature and scopeof the present me a tion having been indicated and a mechanism embodying the several features of the i'nvem tion in their preferred-form havin been specifically described, what is claime" is 1. A machine forsewing .an-unl'asted up per to the sole of a shoe having. in 'eo'mbination, stitch forming devices including a needle arrangedto pierce theupper and sole in a plane parallel to the surface of the sole, a sole support extending within the shoe, means for separating these-1e support and stitch formingdevices tofaci'litate the in sertion and removal of work, and separate meansunder the control of the operator for quickly moving the sole support during the sewing loperationtto compensate for abrupt variations in the thickness'of thework.

a 2. A machine for sewing an unlasted upcarrier with relation to its support during the sewing operation to compensate for abrupt variations in the thickness of the work.

3. A machine for sewing an unlasted upper to the sole of a shoe having, in combination, stitch forming devices including a needle arranged to pierce the upper and sole in a plane parallel'to the surface of the sole, a

sole support extending within the shoe, a carrier for the sole support, a support for said carrier in which the carrier is yieldingly mounted, means for moving the carrier support to separate the sole support and stitch forming devices to facilitate the insertion and removal of work, means under the control of the operator for moving the carrier with relation to its support during the sewing operation to compensate for an abrupt increase in the thickness of the work, and a spring for moving the carrier in the opposite direction. p p

4. A machine for sewing an unlasted upper to the sole of a shoe having, in combination, stitch forming devices including a needle arranged to piercethe upper and sole in i a plane parallel to the surface of the sole, a sole support extending within the shoe, a carrier for the sole support, a support for said carrier in which the carrier is movably mounted, means for moving the carrier support to separate the sole support and stitch forming devices to facilitate the insertion and removal of work, means under the control of the operator for moving the carrier with relation to its support during the sewing operation to compensate for abrupt variations in the thickness of the work, and adjustable means for limiting the movement of the carrier with relation to its support.

7 5. A machine for sewing an unlasted upper to the sole of a shoe havlng, 1n combination, stitch forming devices including a needle arranged to pierce the upper and sole in a plane parallel to the surface of the sole, a sole support extending within theshoe, a carrierfor the sole support, a support for said carrier in which the carrier is movably REGINALD BOYDWOODCOCK.

mounted, a treadle, and suitable connections for moving the carrier support to separate 

